What is PET?

Positron Emission Tomography (PET)

Positron Emission Tomography (PET) is an exciting noninvasive medical imaging modality that produces functional rather than anatomical images, thereby providing greater insight to the patient's condition. Functional imaging means that the body's metabolism is being shown, as opposed to its structure. For example, a cardiac PET image can directly measure to what extent the heart muscle is receiving blood, whereas an anatomical image would require the doctor to infer that information.

PET is very sensitive and can impart very fine gradations of information, making early detection of various disease states possible.

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